A message for Church Leaders from a pastor

I am not currently on our church's elders board and have not talked to our pastor(s) about this blog, but I think it is worth a read from congregational leaders, even in rural Canadian communities where budgets can be tight.

Ken King's Leadership Example

I am a proud Calgary Flames fan - though it has been hard the past five years, being eliminated in the first round four times and then not even making the playoffs last year. I have also been a decent Darryl Sutter supporter, realizing he's made some mistakes but have not been one howling for his neck for the last year. Nonetheless, I admit that yesterday's decision that Darryl Sutter step down as GM was necessary for the club to move on positively.

I love leadership... reading about it, talking about it, doing it, and every once in a while you get a chance to see good leadership. Yesterday as Flames President & CEO Ken King led the press conference, I think it was just another example of watching (listening to) great leadership.

First, King provided clarity on everything, even before the questions were asked. He stated that he had asked Darryl Sutter to step down. Now those story-hungry reporters have no question (did he resign or was he pushed?). Then he answered the Jay Feaster questions with his statement, "I asked Jay if he would be willing to take on the interim GM role? and he indicated that yes he would accept the role, though he did not take the assistant GM role with this goal in mind" - which we honestly all wondered about when King hired Feaster to "assist" Sutter in the summer. Finally, King was clear that both men solidly supported the coaching staff and that this was a vote of confidence for Brent Sutter and staff. King was also clear that he asked both of them (Sutter & Feaster) the question independently, not because he didn't support them, but because he wanted to hear it from them separately. Again... well, there's go another batch of questions the reporters all wanted to ask.

Secondly, King honoured the character of both men. In honouring Darryl Sutter, he highlighted his excellent work in returning the franchise from the sorrowful late 90's and early 2000's. He also commented that Darryl Sutter's response when asked to step down was "what can I do to help the club in this transition?" Then in honouring Feaster he indicated the new GM's character when he said, "The first thing he said was that he was willing to accept it, but it needed to be re-stated again that this was not why he took the assistant GM job." (You mean, you didn't take the assistant GM job knowing that Darryl Sutter was being publically crucified in Calgary and that you would probably get the GM job as soon as anything went wrong? WOW! Even more amazingly, I think King & Sutter & Feaster have me believing them.)

I was just "excited" after listening to the press conference. I believe Ken King and Darryl Sutter are/were good friends. And I believe this was a tough day for Ken King. And yet it was such an example of "good leadership" and it was so beautiful to see.

A few pictures of Rachel's 1st birthday

What should we tell our kids about Santa

Great article by Mark Driscoll in yesterday's Washington Post.

Family Christmas Letter 2010

Dear friends,

For those of you who did not know, the reason you did not receive a Christmas letter last year is because our daughter, Rachel Lynne, was born on December 14. So while we did celebrate Christmas, a family picture and letter simply didn’t happen. Thus, this year has been twice as busy as last year – at least on the home front – yet we are able to find time to send you our greetings and news of 2010.

The first few months of 2010 were spent getting adjusted to the new ratio in the home – two children and two adults. Caleb enjoys his little sister… almost as much as his cars and his bike. Steve continues his work at Prairie Christian Academy and Sarah manages to chase after Caleb while holding Rachel.

The first real highlight of the year was April 11 as Sarah’s sister, Lois, was married to Gregory Lewis, a medical student from Wellsville, New York. Sarah was a (beautiful!) bridesmaid and Caleb, along with Greg’s nephew, served as ringbearers and pulled Rachel to the front in a wagon – or at least that was the plan! Since their wedding, Greg & Lois have been in Albany, the Philippines, Cambodia, Tulsa and again in Albany as Greg completes different internship rotations.

Later that week on April 17, Sarah’s brother, Jon married Kim Plett. Steve was privileged to give the charge to the couple at the wedding ceremony. “Uncle JB” & Auntie Kim live in Three Hills and are much enjoyed by Caleb and Rachel.

Over the summer months, we stayed fairly close to home, not feeling adventurous (or energetic) enough to go too far with two little ones. We took a few days to visit friends in Sexsmith, stopping at Uncle Nathan and Auntie Ruth’s in Edmonton each way to “break up the trip.” We went camping with Mom & Dad Ibbotson and Amanda for a couple days. We also took a very fun trip to Heritage Park with Mom & Dad Hunt. As you can see, we are very blessed to have both sets of parents in town and Caleb and Rachel thoroughly enjoy the blessing they receive.

Sarah and Rachel also flew out to Vernon for a couple days so that Rachel could meet Great-Grampa Friebel and visit Great-Gramma (Nana).

The school year started in late August, and along with his other responsibilities as Christian Education Co-ordinator at Prairie Christian Academy, Steve is also enjoying the challenge of teaching the grade 12 Bible class. One surprise “assignment” which Steve more than gladly accepted was to coach the PCA Sabres Football team (9-man league). It was the team’s first year and they managed to win one game in front of their home crowd! It was fun and a great chance to build into the lives of a group of young men as the school year started.
Sarah enjoys the weekly Mom’s Time Out group, attending the Tuesday morning group this year that Mom Ibbotson facilitates and for which Mom Hunt leads the childcare. So Tuesday mornings are an obvious highlight for Caleb & Rachel! We host a small group of 3-4 other couples with young children on Sunday nights and have also had other families in our home.

Sarah’s Grampa Friebel (95) went to be with the Lord on Friday, November 26. Sarah was glad to be able to fly out with Rachel (and Jon & Kim) for the memorial service, and even more thankful that she and Rachel had been able to go out in the summer. We are grateful for the examples we have on both sides of our family of serving Christ and loving, committed-for-life marriage.

May you have a rich Christmas season!
In Christ,
Steven & Sarah Ibbotson